This Place Just Imposed a Tax on Junk Food

It's the first act of its kind nationwide.

Beginning this week, one corner of the country will have to pay a little more for fried food, potato chips, diet soda, and candy. In response to their 10% obesity rate, the Navajo Nation is imposing a 2% junk-food tax on its reservation.

It's all part of the Healthy Dine Nation Act, an instatement that also eliminates a 5% sales tax on fresh fruits and vegetables and was approved by Navajo president Ben Shelly last November. Revenue from the tax, which includes foods with "minimal-to-no nutritional value" and is the first of its kind nationwide, will go towards community wellness projects including greenhouses, farmer's markets, and vegetable gardens. But not everyone is thrilled with the change.

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About 40% of people are unemployed in this economically-depressed area of the nation, where 42% live below the federal poverty line, which leaves residents like Ann Neagle concerned.

"Less money for fruits is nice, but it doesn't even out," she told the Los Angeles Times. "For people on a fixed income, we can't afford things to get more expensive."

But legislators like Jonathan Nez are hopeful. Nez, who personally changed his lifestyle to incorporate both healthy eating and exercise in 2010, said he would have opposed the tax back when he didn't know better. And now that he's seen a change, he is optimistic that over time, others will too.

"It's a long haul," he said. "But we'll get there."

And if all doesn't go as Nez hopes, the tax will be up for reauthorization in 2020.